Bonds
by ScarletSister
Summary: Naruto has fled Konoha but he's forced to come back and there's only one person who can help him now. Kakashi doesn't know what to make of his former student when he comes in the middle of the night at his door, especially when there's a little child involved. Kakanaru


**Note: **Hey guys, so this is a little idea of mine. So enjoy!

**Paring:** Kakashi and Naruto (KakaNaru)

**Warning:** YAOI in the upcoming chapters.

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Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose as he slowly moved to the front of his apartment and opened the door, it was early and he had just came back from a ANBU mission and was just about to go to sleep when he heard the firm and insisting but low taps on the door. Kakashi couldn't determine who it was on the other end, for they hid their chakra but Kakashi knew that there was two, one who barely moved besides from the shifting of their feet after a good amount of time and the other, constantly moving and tugging on a garment and muttering low noises that sounded more like an animal than human. Maybe it was an animal, Kakashi mused momentarily before opening the door.

The new rays of orange sunlight caught in the blonde locks of hair that covered the boy's face however there was a shadow covering the boys eyes which made those normally bright blue eyes become a dark shade of blue that caused Kakashi's jaw to lock in self-restraint. When had it been since he last saw that combination? Too long, Kakashi suddenly didn't mind at all that he had been interrupted tonight. Not if the interrupter was Naruto. There was a slight disturbance in the usual orange jumpsuit that caught Kakashi's eye and caused him to follow the ripple, running his eye down the length of Naruto's chest and then seeing a white hand clenched in the orange fabric.

Connected to that little fist was a pale but semi-dirty small arm and then Kakashi saw the little girl, barely looking five years of age, who was holding on to Naruto as though her life depended on it. Long dirty hair that seemed almost dark brown with a few leaves in it ran down the girl's body, she had a plain white shirt that went down to her knees which were bare and dirty and there was a hint of blue peeking under the white shirt and she had bare feet.

Kakashi raised one eyebrow, directing his gaze back to his former student and soon to be Hokage. It was only now that he realized that Naruto was almost in the same condition as the little girl, there were dark smudges of mud and dried blood covering his exposed skin, tears along the garment in various places, and dirt in his blonde hair. Kakashi's interest was immediately gained but then again, when wasn't it when Naruto was concerned?

So Kakashi said nothing and simply shifted to the side, allowing his door to open more to accommodate for the two visitors and noticing the small breath leaving Naruto's lips as though he had been worried that his sensei wasn't going to allow them to come in. Quickly, as if to not let Kakashi regret the opportunity, Naruto swept the little girl up into his arms, her arms just as fast going around the boy's neck and Naruto strode inside the apartment as if he had every right.

Kakashi closed the door and followed the pair who stopped at the table and sat down, Naruto leaving the girl in his arms and picking at the remaining leaves that laid in her hair, all while keeping his eye on his sensei. Kakashi found him clenching his jaw again, knowing exactly why those still dark eyes made him feel so unsettle. Cheeky boy, Kakashi muttered inside his brain as sat down on one of his seats.

"Maa…Naruto what did you do this time?" Kakashi said finally after a few moments of staring into the younger boy's eyes since it was obvious that Naruto wouldn't talk first. Not that Kakashi minded the silence and the fact that Naruto wouldn't keep his eyes off of him, no he very much enjoyed it but the question of the girl was causing Kakashi to be curious only because a certain person was holding her.

Naruto licked his lip, placing a leaf he took from Ayame's hair down on the table beside him and slowly running his free hand up and down the girl's back so that she could become calmer. She was scared with being in someone else' company other than Naruto's. He knew that but he also knew that Kakashi was better at this then he was. Naruto was only nineteen after all; he didn't know how to deal with a child. Even if that child happened to be attached to him. It was why he was so relieved that Kakashi had silently allowed them in, knowing that his sensei would help Ayame out.

"I found her."

Kakashi sighed, scratching at the side of his mask and giving Naruto a solemn look. "Naruto, you need to be more descriptive than that. I know it's not your best trait but at least try."

Naruto frowned, not really wanting to tell his Sensei of how he got to find Ayame but knowing that there was no other option so he let out a soft breath of air and shifted his long legs which ultimately brought Ayame closer. Immediately he remembered what had happened a few hours ago, Naruto had been gone from the village for almost four weeks now, having needed to leave everyone after the results of the battle.

He had been considered a hero but all Naruto had done was killed his best friend. He had stayed around for the first month, helping with the reconstruction of the village and pretending for everyone to see that he wasn't burden by the results of the battle and so that when he approached Tsunade, she would allow him to leave without that many questions.

Which actually worked out, Naruto was given leave for six weeks to travel as a reward for all his hard work that he had done in tilting the battle in Konoha's favor. At first he just moved as far as he could away from the village, trying to separate himself from people who knew him. He wanted to walk among people who didn't know that he was Uzumaki Naruto.

It has worked up until last week, where Naruto had been in the forest training to relieve some tension when he had been attacked. Well it hadn't been him that they were planning on attacking; instead they were trying to get the wolves that occupied that area. Naruto had been in the way. He had followed the hunters with the intent on stopping their actions but one thing lead to another and by the time he got to where the animals were, they were all dead and the opponents were about to skin them.

It has made Naruto sick and caused him attack and it was only after when he was moving the dead animals around that he noticed Ayame under them, covered in dirt and blood and with tears covering her face. She had attacked him with her teeth and uneven nails but it was only a feint because before he knew it, Ayame had curled herself around him and cried for her loss, sensing that Naruto wasn't the enemy.

Ever since then, Ayame hadn't unattached herself from Naruto and six days later, Naruto was finding that he didn't mind Ayame either. However, he had no clue how to raise her up and that was why he was now back in Konoha, waiting until nightfall so that he could slip in unnoticed and go to the one man who Naruto felt at ease with. This was why, as he was finger-combing Ayame's hair, that he told Kakashi-sensei the tale as to how he got Ayame.

After a few moments, Kakashi leaned down, his elbows on his knees and his fingers holding his chin up as he stared at the pair. "What are you going to do with Ayame now?"

Naruto's fingers stilled and he glanced down, noticing that Ayame had fallen asleep in the safety of his arms. It was a usual sight since the girl could only fall asleep in his arms and Naruto had gotten used to the feeling to the point that he was usually the one who pulled her near while in the beginning, Ayame had been the one who always cuddled next to him.

Naruto placed his chin on Ayame's head and leaned back, getting comfortable and then lifting his shoulders slightly, knowing that his Sensei would understand. Still to clarify, he added: "I don't know Kakashi-sensei. That's why I came to you."

Kakashi's lip twitched with the urge to smile at the 'sensei' because at this stage, Naruto way surpassed him and yet the boy-no, the man-always referred to him as his superior when it was really the other way around. "Naruto, I don't…why not talk to the Hokage? Tsunade would know what to do more than I. Or Iruka?"

Naruto frowned again, the sun rising farther into the sky and bringing the rays of morning light into the windows and slowly creeping up the floor and towards them, giving Naruto a better look at his Sensei's face. His heart clenched, a familiar feeling tugging at the sight of that dark, almost black, silver eye looking at him with an unreadable expression. Naruto couldn't help but lower his eyes, following the curve of Kakashi's nose and the barely notable outline of his lips…Naruto forced his eyes to go back up and concentrated on Kakashi's eye, pushing down his emotions and trying to calm his heart back into its normal steady pace. Kakashi was one of the other reasons why Naruto had to leave Konoha. He couldn't deal being around this man without wanting to consume him and knowing that Kakashi didn't feel the same way…well it was the one thing that actually caused Naruto to go through with his plan.

"Tsunade would offer Ayame to a family that would accept her."

Now it was Kakashi's turn to frown. "Isn't that what you want?"

"No-yes…no." Naruto sighed and stared down at the child in his arms, remembering when he had tried to give her to the small village that he had found her in but seeing how no one wanted her and how much she had cried at Naruto trying to separate himself from her…well it made one thing clear, Naruto couldn't go through that again.

Ayame…Ayame was the first person to touch his heart again after the war. He couldn't lose her. It hadn't occurred to him until this moment and his muscles clenched in his arms, pulling Ayame closer to his body until she was completely pressed against him. Such a strange emotion and yet Naruto couldn't help it. After all that he was feeling…Ayame had caused him to come back to the one place that he had unconsciously vowed not to come back.

"I want to adopt her." The words came out without thought but Naruto felt no need to take them back. He felt that he did want to raise Ayame up…

"Then why did you come to me Naruto?" Kakashi forced the bite out of his voice because it was ridiculous to be jealous over the child was smug in Naruto's arms. It was ridiculous to feel possessive over Naruto when he saw the boy bring Ayame closer. Utterly ridiculous.

"I don't know…I don't really know how to raise a kid and I didn't really think that I would adopt Ayame until right now…I just thought…" Naruto clenched his jaw and then stood, letting his gaze drop down and angling his body away from Kakashi and turning towards the door. Naruto moved swiftly towards it but then was stopped a few seconds later by a hand closing around his elbow.

Naruto glanced back at him, feeling the urge to apologize for bothering the man but something on his old teachers face caused Naruto's lips to stay closed, his breathing accelerate and his senses to become so sensitive that there were shivers running down his spine at the feel of Kakashi's tight grip on his elbow.

"Stay."

Naruto blinked, not expecting those words to come out of Kakashi's lips and found himself dropping his gaze to the hand still holding on to him. It was a strange thing, at how much warmth just the simple touch of Kakashi's could bring him when Ayame was flushed against him and yet…Naruto knew why though, for years he had been dreaming about the touch of his sensei. Wanting Kakashi to see him in a different light and love him as Naruto loved him then.

"What?" Naruto mumbled, trying to move his elbow out of Kakashi's grip because he couldn't handle the feeling of the man's warmth.

Kakashi simply tightened his grip on his former student and tried not to listen to the voices in his head telling him that he shouldn't have said anything and kept his mouth shut and that this was Naruto, a young boy who still had such a long life ahead of him and that Kakashi was old and that Naruto probably didn't even-

"Stay." Kakashi forced the words out, tugging on the fine elbow and wishing that he could just grab the boy and pull him as close to him as Ayame was to Naruto.

"I don't understand…"

"No one knows you're here. Ayame is sleeping and your apartment is still under construction. Not to mention it's probably dirty and you can't bring Ayame to that. And it's late. Someone might try to stop you and question Ayame and take her away from you." Kakashi felt the words come out but he wasn't thinking about any of that. The real reason why he had grabbed Naruto was because Kakashi simply didn't want him to go.

"You two can stay here. Give Ayame a good bath and let her sleep peacefully for once on a bed and then in the morning, we can talk more about this." Kakashi unintentionally squeezed Naruto's elbow and then let it go, trying to show sincerity in his gaze and not let the younger boy know that Kakashi had an ulterior motive.

Naruto forced himself to not react to the squeeze and nodded with a grateful smile on his lips. When Kakashi moved away to lead Naruto to the spare bedroom, Naruto followed and then moved into the room, not minding the bareness of it and simply moving to the bed and gently placing Ayame down.

He turned to see Kakashi leaning against the door and watching him. That one silver eye made Naruto suddenly feel as small and young as he did years and years ago. But Naruto forced that feeling to go away as he moved towards his sensei and then asked questions about the house that Naruto planned to be hiding out in for a while.

An hour later, Ayame was clean with a pair of dark grey shorts and a white shirt and she was curled up on Naruto's chest, breathing softly and providing a sense of calm for the blonde if Naruto wanted it to. However it wasn't Ayame's breathing that Naruto was concentrating on, no, it was the man's in the other room that Naruto found himself listening to and soon, heaving those low and long intakes and outtakes of air, Naruto soon allowed sleep to pull him in its embrace where the nightmares that always plagued him didn't tonight.


End file.
